Review by Lana Hall
David Lynch makes movies. Sometimes unintelligible, often disturbing and always with some scenes that, although on the surface seem innocuous, are downright creepy in feel. Apparently this particular effect is created by employing a specific low droning sound, a kind of ‘fear note’. The sound, when paired with an innocent looking setting, has the effect of convincing you something sinister is going on, even though appearances are above board. Given his skill in utilising this trick in his movies, it’s safe to assume that Mr Lynch knows a bit about how music evokes emotions, especially once you realise that he has collaborated on the soundtracks for several of his movies.
Crazy Clown Time is Lynch’s first full length, solo offering. The instrument playing and vocals (helped along by extensive use of a vocoder) are entirely his own, with the exception of the first track, ‘Pinky’s Dream’, which features Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) whispering and yelping her way through the song. By Lynch’s own admission, the album was born from a series of home-based jams and experiments, and this is how it presents. Crazy Clown Time is an atmospheric, hypnagogic waltz through the outpourings of Lynch’s mind, the best of which are cut together and collected on this album.
Early evidence that this is Lynch’s work comes from ‘Good Day Today’, a tracks whose tenebrous tones sit juxtaposed with a seemingly innocent, wailing lyrical desire that ‘I want to have a good day today…’ just before what sounds like gunfire is added into the mix.
Best tracks were ‘So Glad,’ ‘Noah’s Ark’ and ‘These are my friends’. These songs stand out because they showcase a new side of the rare talent that Lynch brings to music. These tracks reveal his ability to invoke in the mind of the listener a particular scene, an emotion, a moment in time, without needing to resort to narrative lyrics in order to do so. It’s one thing to hear a song from a soundtrack and recall the scene that accompanied it in a movie; it’s another thing altogether to be able to conjure a specific scene in a listener’s mind simply through tones. But at its best, this is what Crazy Clown Time is capable of. It’s different, sometimes amusing and it leaves you wanting to know more about his ambience-invoking superpowers.
Review by Lana Hall